Epilepsy, retarded growth and onchocerciasis, in two areas of different endemicity of onchocerciasis in Burundi
- 1 September 1997
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
- Vol. 91 (5), 525-527
- https://doi.org/10.1016/s0035-9203(97)90009-2
Abstract
A high prevalence of epilepsy (up to 1.3%) was observed in an area hyperendemic for onchocerciasis in the province of Bururi, Burundi. Following this observation, epileptics and controls were examined in 2 communes (administrative units) with different endemicity for onchocerciasis. Altogether, onchocerciasis was more frequent in epileptics (81.8%) than in controls from the same households (68.3%; P < 0.05). This difference was more marked in the hyperendemic area. Other possible causes of epilepsy, including cysticercosis, were infrequent (18 possible cases among 110 epileptics). During this survey, 9 epileptics with growth retardation were seen. They showed most characteristics of Nakalanga syndrome, which was described from Uganda. All 9 such cases were suffering from onchocerciasis. These findings give more evidence of a possible association between onchocerciasis and epilepsy, and between onchocerciasis and Nakalanga syndrome.Keywords
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